Oof!

Holy cats! Three weeks since I posted?!

Um... sorry about that?

What can I say? Pesach. Also, pre-Pesach stomach flu, for everyone but Abba. I was sick in bed for a couple of days and really under the weather for another four; every single kid had a fever + diarrhea/vomiting/general ick. Pesach did get made, and so far has been going fine; we had 17 (!) people for the seder, which was fun. Iyyar made it to midnight, Barak made it all the way to nirtzah, at 2 am. Yes, they were all up at 7 am as though nothing had happened. Why can't I do that?!

Various other things are afoot. My husband, who I have decided to rename, for purposes of this blog, Mr. Bigfoot*, is trying to find a job for next year. As a backup, he's also starting the process to get certified as an English teacher, which requires vast amounts of hoop-jumping, beginning with getting every transcript/degree he's ever gotten in his life certified by the Israeli government. Fun fun! If you, or anyone you know, or anyone you've ever met, has a job for my husband, please let me know. Thanks.

Work has been crazy busy. This is good, but also stressful. I think I'll be back in the States for work the last week of June. Not sure yet, but that's how it's looking.

Marika is being adorable. Newest thing: elaborate "I dunno!" shrugs, complete with upturned palms and head inclined at an angle that would send me running for physical therapy. Also, she is enjoying putting her own diapers in the garbage can. When she does, she looks at you expectantly, at which point you, of course, applaud.

Avtalyon torments Marika at every opportunity, steals her toys, blocks her passage everywhere, and has to be watched like a hawk lest he close a door on her hands. Iyyar is settling down somewhat; Pesach break agrees with him, as does all the soy-free meat at this time of year. Barak is also being really cute, and erev Shabbos, when I was rushing around like a madwoman because we were going to have 4 yeshiva guys for dinner and I was running late, he heard Marika crying for attention in the pack-and-play in which she had been unceremoniously deposited for safekeeping. "Imma, do you want me to make Marika happy?" "Yes! Yes PLEASE Barak!" And he did, playing a wild game of peek-a-boo on three sides of the crib. They were both absolutely shrieking with laughter. Good times.

OK. Time to clean up from Shabbos. Hoping for a zoo trip tomorrow. Moadim l'simcha, everyone.

*A few months ago, Alisha brought back some things from the States for us. Because she lives here, not there, said things were bought by me online and sent to her mother's NYC apartment during Alisha's visit there. As anyone who's ever lived in an NYC apartment knows, extra storage space is generally at a premium, and Alisha's mother was extremely nice to permit my random boxes to pile up in her home when, you know, she's never even met me. One of the items was a box containing shoes for my husband, in size Ridiculously Huge, which I discovered too late are not only hard to find here but absurdly expensive (NIS 800! And not even such great quality). Anyway, I finally emailed Alisha's mom to say thank you, and she graciously said it wasn't a big deal (which I suspect wasn't true) and that she hoped one day to meet me, my kids, and Mr. Bigfoot.

I howled. Because he IS. His feet are HUGE and I trip over his shoes regularly. So forget the heilige husband acronym. From now on, he'll always be Mr. Bigfoot to me. :)

Also

What is up with the line spaces? More specifically, what is up with the lack of line spaces? There were none in my last post, despite my trying every which way (even using the space bar! the tab key! no dice!) to get them in there.

Will this post have spaces? Only Blogger knows for sure.

This past week? Not fun.

After my post of grim determination on Perspective:

a) I spent the night in the hospital with Avtalyon. Barak had his mesibat chumash (in Hevron! the mind reels) and when I came back Abba said in passing that he'd bonked his head on the radiator. Head-bonking happens so often around here that this barely registered. When I was talking to Persephone later ont he phone, and he woke up screaming, I thought, oh, he got soy at dinner and his stomach hurts. Then I looked again at all the writhing and screaming and thought, huh. That's some stomachache. "Avtalyon, where does it hurt?" "Here!" he wailed, holding his head.

Ohh. Ear infection. That's weird, we were just at the ENT yesterday and he didn't say anything about his ears. And he was SO upset. I took him out of his room and sat with him on the couch in the living room, hoping he'd calm down, but no. Went to get Tylenol and oh I think he's going to throw up ewwww he threw up all over me and "MY HEAD HURTS!"

Dingdingdingdingding

"Could you go grab the carseat and call me a cab to Shaarei Tzedek?"

So we spent the night in Shaarei Tzedek, and it was in some ways impressive and in others way Not Impressive At All, and in the end he is probably IY"H fine and it was a concussion. No energy to blog the rest of the experience; maybe later.

b) Then! Iyyar woke up warm. Then he was hot. Then I checked his underarm temp and it was 103.3 (meaning it was really over 104, for those keeping score at home.) Then the diarrhea started. He went through ALL his underwear and started going through Barak's before I could get his washed. All together now: eww. He was home Thursday and Friday.

c) Other Unbloggable Stuff that was Very Very Gross and Annoying. Also, EARLY. and LONG. I miss being pregnant. TMI yet? Sorry.

Hey, I have line spaces! Awesome.

OK, one more whine.

The fridge.

Our fridge stinks. Figuratively, not literally. Stuff on the door does not stay cold, and anything in the back of the fridge freezes. Since this is a 3/4 sized fridge, that doesn't leave a lot of room. I've put in endless forms about this, and the maintenance guys, who are extremely nice but have no budget, have attempted to fix it, replaced it with another equally semifunctional fridge, taken it away, returned it, and, most recently, brought in a THIRD semifunctional fridge which, while now very very clean (thank you Rami Levy and your knockoff Magic Erasers!) also freezes my cucumbers.

And guess what?

PESACH IS COMING.

I have an electric burner and a fridge that only kinda works. Two feet of counter space, a tiny freezer and a plastic Keter closet.

I do at least have two brand-new toaster ovens, one of which is a Black and Decker 220 I brought back with me from the states.

Still. This is going to be interesting. I think it'll be OK, in the end, but... yeah.

OK. Off to make havdalah. Stay tuned, as always, to this exciting channel of only seemingly endless whining.